


Merry Christmas, Darling

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: College AU, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 08:42:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22013215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Being stuck on the side of the road in a snowstorm was already the worst way to spend Christmas Eve. His ex being there with him didn't make it any better.Written for the AHDS Secret Santa
Relationships: Jeremy Dooley/Ryan Haywood
Comments: 6
Kudos: 86





	Merry Christmas, Darling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RazzleyD](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RazzleyD/gifts).



> Written for the Achievement Hunter Discord Server's Secret Santa! A little late for a Christmas fic I supposed, but is it ever too late for some cute jeremwood? I think not. 
> 
> For the lovely Razz

The only sound that could be heard within Jeremy’s truck was the crackling of the Christmas station he selected on the radio, Bing Crosby fading in and out as the station lost it’s signal every few seconds. 

The sound wasn’t enough to cover up the awkward silence between the two of them, both of them keeping to themselves instead of striking up a conversation. There wasn’t anything Jeremy wanted to say to Ryan anyhow, at least not anything Ryan would want to hear. 

The silence, while trapping Jeremy in his own thoughts, was nice, to say the least. It was better than blurting out something that Jeremy would ultimately regret in the long run, one of the many things he wishes to say bursting out from behind his lips and making Ryan risk the snowstorm raging outside to walk home rather than stick around. 

If he had known things were going to be this awkward, maybe Jeremy wouldn’t have offered to give Ryan a ride home. It wasn’t Jeremy’s fault that Ryan got into an argument with his date at the party, and it certainly wasn’t his fault that said date told Ryan he was shit out of luck when it came to getting a ride home. 

Of course, Jeremy wasn’t a dick. At least, he didn’t like to think of himself as one. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to let Ryan walk home in the disaster of a snowstorm this Christmas Eve had brought, regardless of how he felt about his former best friend. His apartment was miles from Jeremy’s own, and there was a good chance Ryan would freeze to death before even making it a few blocks. 

That is what led Jeremy to push back any animosity he felt towards the man and offering up a ride. He was shocked that Ryan had accepted the offer, though it wasn’t hard to miss the slight hesitancy at Jeremy’s request. He wondered if Ryan would have rathered spent the night fighting off hypothermia than spend time with Jeremy in an enclosed space. (Jeremy wouldn’t have blamed him.)

“I’m surprised Annie is keeping up in this snow,” Ryan breaks the silence, his gaze still looking at the snow falling outside. “She’s always been reliable, hasn’t she?”

Jeremy has had Annie since high school, to the shock of his parents and himself. Annie had been a stinker when he got her, barely getting him where he needed to go at all times and Jeremy having to damn near pray every single time he had to start her up. He couldn’t afford anything else though, so as long as she kept kicking, Jeremy was grateful. 

“She’s got the spirit,” Jeremy agrees, keeping his eyes on the snow-covered road ahead. He can hardly see anything ahead of them aside from the few street lights and an upcoming stop sign. “Do I need to take a right or a left here?”

“Right, then turn left at the next stop sign.”

The awkward silence makes a return after that, with Ryan keeping his focus on the falling snow out the window and Jeremy with a tight grip on the steering wheel as the snow appears to pick up even more. This was a stupid idea, taking Annie out into a snowstorm like this. Weather reports had said that it was going to be dangerous on the roads tonight, advising people simply stay in their homes, but of course, Jeremy’s roommate wanted to throw a Christmas Eve party anyways. Most of the party was planning on staying the night, leaving in the morning once the storm had passed, and part of Jeremy wished that Ryan had planned the same thing. 

The radio station clears for a moment, and the obnoxious voice of the local radio DJ cuts into the silence with her cheerful greeting, “Merry Christmas Eve listeners! This is your favorite DJ, Maddie, keeping you company as you stay snuggled up warm indoors during this freezing winter night! This next song is for all of you wishing for a cutie under your tree tonight, or maybe you are missing your cutie this cold night to snuggle you up!”

The opening notes of ‘Merry Christmas Darling’ rings through the truck and Jeremy can’t help the groan that escapes his mouth. He tries to cover up discreetly, passing it off as himself clearing his throat as he reaches for the radio dial to find a different station. The last thing he wanted to do was add to the awkwardness in the truck by playing a sentimental love song.

_ Merry Christmas Darling _

_ We're apart that's true _

_ But I can dream and in my dreams _

_ I'm Christmasing with you _

“I like this one,” Ryan says, looking at Jeremy with a soft smile. “It’s a bit of a sad Christmas song, but I kinda like it. It’s sweet.” 

Jeremy doesn’t say anything, but his hand does leave the dial. Maybe Ryan was purposely trying to be sentimental, like a song about missing someone you love on a holiday while being in the car with someone he used to be with, someone he used to love before Jeremy was an idiot and broke it off because he got scared. 

Wasn’t that a bitch to remember, huh? A dumb Christmas song bringing back memories of Ryan’s heartbroken face when Jeremy confessed that he was terrified of how serious everything had become, that he didn’t want a serious relationship before college and that they needed to take a break. Ryan, someone he loved so fucking much it was tearing him apart, calling Jeremy every name in the book before taking off into the night without another word. 

Jeremy can’t help but grip the steering wheel a bit tighter as he remembers seeing Ryan again after the breakup, both of them attending the same college under the same fucking major because of course Jeremy had forgotten that Ryan had the same dreams as him, that one of the reasons they worked so well was because of their shared aspirations. The fact that he has to see Ryan date other people because of his idiocy, that he couldn’t bring himself to find someone else because he was still hung up on his ex-best friend from high school. 

Maybe Christina Perri didn’t mean to give him such a rough trip down memory lane with her rendition of a Christmas classic, but it sure as shit was giving him a punch to the gut. 

“Jeremy, look out!”

Jeremy isn’t sure how he didn’t see the tree before, but luckily he’s able to swerve out of the way in time before they collide into it. His tires slide across the icy road, sending them into a circle as Jeremy attempts to gain control back and keep them from plowing into a different tree. They manage to come to a stop on the side of the road, the truck jolting slightly as they hit a pile of snow pushed off the road from one of the plows earlier that night. 

Jeremy turns towards Ryan, part of his panic fading as he notices that the man is wearing his seatbelt. The song on the radio comes to an end, just in time to return to the fading it had been doing earlier. 

The minute the signal vanishes, Ryan explodes. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you! We could have died, Jeremy!”

Jeremy’s hands haven’t stopped shaking since they’ve stopped. “I didn’t see it, holy fuck I swear it came out of nowhere, I’m so fucking sorry Ryan. I could hardly see anything out there.” He looks out the windshield, only to notice that he can’t see  _ anything.  _ The world has gone completely white with snow, the trees around them having been sucked into the white as well. Jeremy isn’t sure how far from the road they swerved, but he can only assume it was far. 

“Great,” Ryan sighs, hitting his head against the back of his seat. “We’re stranded, my phone’s dead, and it’s  _ Christmas.”  _

He’s not wrong, Jeremy thinks. The clock has just shifted to past midnight, officially making it Christmas. It’s Christmas and Jeremy is stuck on the side of the road with a dead truck and the ex he never got over. Whoever was granting Christmas wishes that year was a real dick if this was Jeremy’s gift. 

“I’m sure somebody will drive by and see us-”

“Nobody in their right mind would be out driving in this!”

Jeremy takes a deep breath. “Then we wait for the storm to pass. The weather report said it should die off around 1.”

Ryan doesn’t look all too pleased with Jeremy’s answer, but he doesn’t say much else. If Jeremy were in his place, he’d be pretty upset too. He was stuck with his ex, someone who broke his heart all those years back, after an argument with someone who was probably about to become his ex too, and all he wanted was to get back to his apartment to sleep. 

In an attempt to avoid his thoughts, Jeremy turns the key and waits for the truck to start. 

And waits. 

…..and waits. 

He can see Ryan pinch the bridge of his nose. “Sounds like poor Annie doesn’t want to try, huh?”

Jeremy bites down on his bottom lip. “She usually takes a couple of tries…” He turns the key once more, hoping for a miracle, but receives nothing. “Damn it.”

“It’s okay,” Ryan tells him, watching Jeremy slump against the driver’s seat in defeat. “It’s not your fault.”

Jeremy snorts. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me not paying attention to the road.”

“Maybe,” Ryan admits, but his voice is soft. Jeremy looks over at him, tries to ignore the skip his heart does when he looks at those icy blue eyes staring back at him. “But if it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t be here at all. If I hadn’t got into a fight with Adam back there we would still be back at your apartment, warm.” 

Jeremy wasn’t expecting an apology from Ryan, especially when it wasn’t needed, but it does make him feel better about the situation. “I wasn’t about to let you walk back to your apartment in this mess. Hell, despite everything, you would’ve done the same thing, I think.”

“I would,” Ryan responds. “No doubt about it.”

They keep to themselves after that. Jeremy zips his coat up tighter as he leans away from the freezing cold window, while Ryan adjusts the beanie on his head to cover his ears better. His eyes close every now and again, probably exhausted from the long night, and Jeremy wishes he could fall asleep too. The cold doesn’t help though as it keeps him from dozing by jolting him awake with shivers. 

He wonders if Ryan is warm in his coat and hat, watching as the man shivers every now and again. Ryan’s never quite liked the cold weather, preferring the heat over the biting cold. Jeremy doesn’t have another coat in his truck, but he’s pretty sure there is a blanket under the seat somewhere if he looked hard enough. 

He reaches down, the lack of light creating a struggle as he tosses aside empty cans of energy drink and crumpled bags of snacks before his hands hit soft blanket. He pulls it out from under the seat and nudges Ryan’s arm, startling the man from his attempted sleep. 

“You need it,” Jeremy insists, spreading the blanket out over Ryan. The man grips the blanket tightly, pulling it over him without any complaints. It’s only then that Jeremy gets a good look at the blanket he’s grabbed. His hand traces over the stitching in the corner, where the number 42 stands out in blue lettering, with the name Haywood underneath it. 

Ryan notices Jeremy’s hesitance, and he looks down at the stitching before smiling softly. “I always wondered what happened to this blanket,” he says, thumb tracing over his name. “Mom was so mad at me for losing it.” 

“I didn’t realize I still had it,” Jeremy admits, almost grateful for the embarrassment that warms up his cheeks. “I always kept it under the seats for when I went to your games, I guess I forgot it was down there so I never gave it back.” He looks back up at Ryan, who holds Jeremy’s gaze. Both of them share a gentle smile before they burst into laughter, though they are not quite sure what is so funny. It feels nice though, to laugh with Ryan after so long. 

“C’mon,” Ryan says, pulling the blanket up and patting the spot next to him on the bench seat. “We both need to keep warm, and I don’t mind if you don’t.” 

Jeremy nods, unbuckling his own seatbelt and sliding across the bench seat towards Ryan. He hesitantly presses himself into Ryan’s side, unsure of what to do with his arms as he crosses them against his chest and allows Ryan to pull the blanket over them. Ryan’s arms wrap around Jeremy’s waist, pulling him closer while keeping the blanket over them. 

“Sharing body heat is a smart way to keep warm, right?” Ryan asks, noticing Jeremy’s stiffness over his touch. “I mean, the blanket helps too, but it can only do so much, you know?”

Jeremy nods. “Yeah, that’s correct.” He tries to ignore the part of him that says this is Ryan’s way of making a move, that maybe he’s missed Jeremy as much as Jeremy has missed him over the past few years. He knows it is simply because Ryan’s arms have given him a sense of security, that he’s protected from the snowstorm outside as long as he resides in Ryan’s embrace. It was how he felt back when they were together, so it only made sense that the feeling stayed. 

“This is kinda weird, huh?”

Well, if that didn’t shatter the moment. 

Ryan must have sensed Jeremy tensing in his arms because he immediately splutters. “Fuck, I didn’t mean that it was bad, it isn’t bad.” He stops his explanation to take a deep breath, all while Jeremy tries to not take offense to his words. “Just weird that of all the people at the party tonight that could have offered me a ride home, it happened to be you? That the party happened to be at your apartment?” 

“Coincidence?” Jeremy suggests because of course, it was. Jeremy’s apartment was a hot spot thanks to his roommate. 

Ryan chuckles softly, his chest vibrating underneath Jeremy. “A wonderful coincidence.” His arms tighten around Jeremy, but they don’t feel suffocating. It’s a comfort to Jeremy, a silent reminder that Ryan could never make him feel trapped but free and hopeful. 

It is that reminder that reminds Jeremy of what he gave up all those years ago, all because of a fear that he created. What was there to fear about being in love with Ryan, with creating a future with him? Jeremy has grown since high school, has learned from his past mistakes. There was a chance here, in a freezing cold truck surrounded by endless snow, that he could reverse one of the worst mistakes he made. 

“I was scared.”

He doesn’t know what compelled him to blurt that out. Maybe it was the sense of comfort he’s longed for finally being here or the thought of letting Ryan go once again scaring him into saying it. He owed Ryan the explanation though, he knew that much. 

Ryan squeezes his arm. “I know.”

It all comes out like a flood. “I loved you so much that I was absolutely terrified of anything changing. I wanted things to stay exactly the same as they were because it was safe. I wanted us to be safe, but when I realized that we couldn’t be the way we were forever, I was terrified and thought cutting you loose would spare the damage that would come in the future.”

Ryan finds Jeremy’s hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Safe is boring, you know. Playing things safe would have meant us never being together because playing it safe would have been me avoiding my feelings for the rest of high school and playing ‘what if’ scenarios in my head. Playing it safe would have been the two of us dancing around each other before settling for someone who didn’t mean a damn thing.”

Jeremy lets out a loud groan at Ryan’s words. 

“Stop being right,” he grumbles. “It makes me realize how I dumb I am.”

Ryan laughs, one of his classic laughs where his voice takes a higher pitch and makes Jeremy’s heart flip. It’s been so long since he’s heard the sound that he hates to think of a time where he’d never hear it again. 

It’s then that they lock eyes once more, soft icy blue meeting curious brown. It’s then that Jeremy is taken by surprise when Ryan’s hand reaches up to cup his jaw and brings his face to his own to kiss him. 

Kissing Ryan has always felt like coming home, and this moment was no exception. It felt like a long-awaited reunion, a return to a place he never meant to abandon, and now he can’t see himself ever leaving again. Playing it safely held him back. 

“I have a confession,” Ryan says once he’s pulled away, keeping his hand against Jeremy’s jaw. “I, um, knew that it was your apartment that was hosting the party tonight. I guess part of me wanted to see you again despite everything.”

Jeremy smiles at him, pressing their foreheads together. “You are such a dork.” He pauses. “Fuck, what about your date?”

Ryan rolls his eyes. “Adam? I don’t think that was going to work out. I mostly accepted his invitation tonight because my roommate guilted me into it. Said I wasn’t getting out enough.”

Jeremy looks outside the window, where the flurries continue to cover the truck and keep them stuck, and laughs. “Well, now you have company.” They share a gentle smile before Jeremy presses his lips against Ryan’s once more, feeling much warmer now. 

**

Jeremy awakens to the sound of a truck starting. 

The warmth from before has vanished, but the blanket remains wrapped around him and providing enough comfort. When he opens his eyes he finds Ryan sitting in the driver’s seat of the truck, cheering to himself as he looks over at Jeremy and smiles brightly at the man. “I got Annie to start!”

Jeremy rubs at his tired eyes, looking out the windows of his truck and noticing that he can see the road now, though it’s covered in a thick layer of snow. His watch tells him it’s four in the morning now, so there wasn’t a chance of a plow coming by for at least another two hours.

“Do you want to drive?” Ryan asks him, shifting himself out of the driver’s seat to make room for Jeremy. “I can take us to my apartment easily enough if you want to rest a bit more.”

Jeremy shakes his head, but he doesn’t move towards the driver’s seat. “You can drive, but I don’t think I need any more rest.” He leans forward, pressing a tired kiss to Ryan’s cheek. An old habit that has come back. “How many tries did she need?”

Ryan laughs at the question, putting the truck in drive and moving it back towards the road. The snow is thick, but Annie manages to get through it easily enough. “Two. She’s reliable, remember?”

Ryan doesn’t take any chances on the drive, keeping the speed slow and steady through the deep snow. Jeremy can only imagine how exhausted Ryan probably is after such a long night, probably craving his own bed. Jeremy wishes he could snap himself back to his own apartment and get a good night’s rest without having to worry about driving himself back in this mess. 

When they arrive at Ryan’s apartment, in one piece thankfully, the awkward silence from before comes back. There is so much that Jeremy wants to say to him, Ryan probably has a lot more he wants to get off of his chest, but for the moment they say nothing. 

Ryan reaches his hand out towards Jeremy and intertwines their hands together, a tired smile on his face. “I know you need to drive back to your own apartment, but how do you feel about spending Christmas with me? We don’t need to talk about anything yet, we can just get some sleep and think about it later?”

Jeremy nods. “The roads are still dangerous. Maybe it is best if I wait for the plow to come by before I head back.” He matches the smile on Ryan’s face with one of his own. “Besides, nobody deserves to be alone on Christmas.”

That melodic laugh Jeremy loves returns then, followed by Ryan leaning forward and pressing a tired kiss against Jeremy’s lips. “Is it too cheesy to say Merry Christmas, Darling?” 

Jeremy resists the urge to roll his eyes, only because of how much it makes his heart swell to hear the pet name he adored from high school. “Yeah, it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at cherryraindrops!


End file.
